Gay Marriage Issue Flares in Kentucky Senate Race

A Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky said that same-sex marriage could lead to a parent claiming marriage to his or her child to gain tax benefits and other privileges.

Louisville businessman Matt Bevin is challenging five-term Sen. Mitch McConnell in the May 20 GOP primary. Bevin said Wednesday that marriage should retain its traditional definition as being between a man and a woman.

Bevin told a Christian radio program hosted by Janet Mefferd: "If it’s all right to have same-sex marriages, why not define a marriage - because at the end of the day, a lot of this ends up being taxes and who can visit who in the hospital, and there’s other repercussions and things that come with this -so a person may want to define themselves as being married to one of their children so that they could then in fact pass on certain things to that child financially and otherwise."

"Where do you draw the line?" he said. "And if, in fact, a person can arbitrarily draw it here, why not could someone else draw it arbitrarily draw it somewhere else?"

Bevin spokeswoman Rachel Semmel said Bevin was not connecting gay marriage with incest. She said he was speaking of questions such as "hospital visitations and benefits."

McConnell is the Senate minority leader.

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Comments

Anonymous, 2014-02-21 16:07:33

These idiots obviously do not realize how stupid they sound.

Anonymous, 2014-02-22 10:57:15

Kentucky is filled with so called "Christians" who practice little to none of what was taught by Christ. They cherry pick the bible, demanding a few passages be taken literally and ignoring most of the rest. I am 66 years old, and to date have NEVER met a person who lives by the standards of the Bible. Here in Kentucky it seems to be worse than most places I have lived. Love thy neighbor as thyself does not end with unless thy neighbor is different from you in some way.

Wayne Madden, 2014-02-22 20:41:55

Clearly, Bevin is only trying to raise fear by presenting a scenario he must know would not take place. McConnell is no friend of ours, but even he clearly is more intelligent and honest to engage in such extreme and ridiculous rhetoric.

Kentucky’s Attorney General is defending the state’s same-sex marriage ban, saying it should stand even though his office acknowledges overturning it would grant gay couples the same legal protections as straight couples.

Forty gay couples in South Dakota applied to be married during the first month following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized such unions across the country, according to data provided by the state Department of Health.